Adventures in Mommyhood

Posts tagged ‘Parenting’

Little Bumblebee is having a hard week. Between teething and bonking into surfaces all the time it is a hot mess up in our household. This morning was especially rough. He crashed backwards pulling up to stand twice on the hardwood floor. Poor guy.

Sometimes, I just wish babies were born with a full set of teeth. Because, let’s face it, teething is a beepity beep. And then I think, “Ouch! No thank you!” It is what it is, and it is taking a toll on this household.

I feel like there is a delicate balance of taking care of your kiddos needs, and keeping up with housework. I imagine you can guess that our household is not the most organized domain as of late. Like I said, it is what it is. I would rather snuggle my kiddo in pain, than win an award for most put away dishes or best folded laundry. Because if we’re being honest, I dislike doing either in the first place.

Miss Ladybug has felt the increased stress, and has become super clingy and cuddly as well. It is frustrating, yet totally understandable. It just brings into perspective that if one family member is having a hard time, it is felt by all. It is a unifying, and a heavy realization. But in the end we are here for each other.

I just need to breathe patience, and ride out this wave in our lives. Because soon that tooth will break the surface, and normalcy will return to my buggy home. And you know what? There is no shame in a cuddly, movie day every now and then.

Have you had any struggles recently with your little ones? Did you find a good solution to helping them through their conflict?

Little Bumblebee is having a hard week. Between teething and bonking into surfaces all the time it is a hot mess up in our household. This morning was especially rough. He crashed backwards pulling up to stand twice on the hardwood floor. Poor guy.

Sometimes, I just wish babies were born with a full set of teeth. Because, let’s face it, teething is a beepity beep. And then I think, “Ouch! No thank you!” It is what it is, and it is taking a toll on this household.

I feel like there is a delicate balance of taking care of your kiddos needs, and keeping up with housework. I imagine you can guess that our household is not the most organized domain as of late. Like I said, it is what it is. I would rather snuggle my kiddo in pain, than win an award for most put away dishes or best folded laundry. Because if we’re being honest, I dislike doing either in the first place.

Miss Ladybug has felt the increased stress, and has become super clingy and cuddly as well. It is frustrating, yet totally understandable. It just brings into perspective that if one family member is having a hard time, it is felt by all. It is a unifying, and a heavy realization. But in the end we are here for each other.

I just need to breathe patience, and ride out this wave in our lives. Because soon that tooth will break the surface, and normalcy will return to my buggy home. And you know what? There is no shame in a cuddly, movie day every now and then.

Have you had any struggles recently with your little ones? Did you find a good solution to helping them through their conflict?

It’s that time again, to check out what is on the menu for this week’s tot trays. Ladybug has been very intrigued in our tot trays including water. So I thought I would finally invest in some water beads to incorporate into one of our trays. It is my first time using them at all and I think the Little Miss will love them. I mean, I loved playing with them Monday night getting them ready. 😛

So without further hesitation, here are the trays we are working with this week.

A twist on spoon transfer, I used the spoon attachment we used to use for toddler pouches. Then I used an upcycled baby food jar to hold blue gems, and then I used an apple shaped ice tray from Target.

Working with small spaces here. I chose kabob skewers, and a sugar shaker I got from the Dollar Tree

Big spoon transfer using a slatted spoon, with water beads being the object to transfer.

I can’t wait to introduce these tomorrow. It is going to a fun week, I just can feel it.

What are some fun things you are doing with the kiddos this week? What is your favorite way to use water beads?

If you have visited our Facebook page in the last couple days, you might have noticed that Ladybug had a new found fascination with monsters. When Auntie K. they spend the two hours she’s here chasing monsters around. She had expressed some fear over them, which sucks. No parent wants their kiddo having lingering fears over monsters.

And then I remembered a pin I had saved on Pinterest a few months back. “Monster Spray“, helping parents help kiddos conquer their fears. Heck to the yes, this worked soooo well.

Staring down that monster, preparing to spray him away

We got him, so now let's wipe him away!

I totally took advantage of this opportunity to teach cleaning up after our messes. So it was a win/win situation all around. The monsters are gone, and if they come back we have more spray to get them out. I’ll probably end up decorating the bottle with some foam stickers to distinguish it as our Monster Spray.

What are some creative or silly ways that you help your child(ren) through their fears?

I’m finally not feeling so stressed all of the time. Parenting is hard work, to put it lightly. And teething with infants can be a beeping, beep, beep, beepity, beeeeeping, beeped, beep… beep. But, I digress.

Nothing quite prepares you for the possible months of broken sleep. Not to mention adjusting from having one to two little humans depending on you. Yeah, Bumblebee is almost 9 months and it is just now getting easier. Or should I say, we have a system now that works for us. I still feel stressed, mostly in the mornings, until I pound my morning coffee.

Last week we started this series highlighting our progress using Tot Trays in our home tot school. The following pictures show our first week’s tot trays.

1. Water Transfer Using a Measuring Cup into a Funnel

2. Pompom Transfer Using a Spoon into Glass Jars

3. Beading with Wooden Beads onto Pipe Cleaners

Tray #1 ended up taking the show. She was so intrigued by the water play I decided to make another tray incorporating water transfer this week. She probably spent an hour or more each day transferring back and forth. Incidentally, the cats found this one amuzing as well. They also took it upon themselves to claim it as their new water dish as soon as Ladybug finished each session of play. Sigh, big heavy sigh for my entilted felines.

She could do this all day.

Tray #2 got a little action, but not nearly as much as #1. I probably should have added another dynamic to this tray. Like maybe using tongs instead, or a more difficult item to transfer. Alas, it is a learning experience for me as well.

Oh poor, poor, poor Tray #3 got little to no play time. She was so enthralled with Tray #1 and mildly interested in Tray #2, that this one never got the chance to shine bright like a diamond. 😉
That is okay, though. It is all a learning process, and it is teaching me more about my daughter’s personality.

How did your trays pan out last week? Any questions on how to start out doing home Tot School?